Shippers’ Council Takes Marine& Blue Economy Campaign To Ministry Of Foreign Affairs

 

The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) has reaffirmed strong commitment towards promoting the numerous potentials in the maritime industry whereby engaging the Ministry of Foreign Affairs  on how best to leverage and grow the Marine and Blue Economy.

This, is in line with strategic move to foster collaboration and deepen institutional partnerships, towards projecting shippers interest to the international communities.

The Executive Secretary/CEO Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Dr. Pius Akutah, made this known when he  paid a courtesy visit to the Honourable Minister, Foreign Affairs, H.E. Amb. Yusuf Tuggar, OON, at his office in Abuja.

According to a statement over the weekend, the visit was aimed at promoting the Council’s mandate and exploring avenues for enhanced synergy with the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Akutah urged for stronger diplomatic engagement to ensure fairer treatment and smoother trade relations.

“We are looking at the issue of overseas treatment of Nigerian shippers because many of our shippers complain about certain constraints they face in their activities outside the country.

“We are thinking that, with your support, we could establish liaison desks in your embassies to support Nigerian shippers, especially in countries like China, where significant trade activities occur between our people and the Chinese market.” he said

Continuing, Akutah emphasized the need for enhanced trade intelligence to aid in resolving international shipping disputes and called for cooperation in promoting Nigeria’s Blue Economy.

Apparently focused on the significance of the industry, he cited countries like Canada which has very mature Blue Economy as potential partners for technical exchange and collaboration in areas like maritime research and ecotourism, adding that “We are also exploring blue economic diplomacy.

He further stressed that “Today, Nigeria has embraced the blue economy, and there are countries with mature blue economies that we want to partner with.

“For instance, countries like Canada have very mature blue economies. We want to leverage your capacity to help us promote our Blue Economy in those countries, facilitating technical cooperation to help build our own Blue Economy.” He said.

He added that the Council would also want to leverage on the capacity of the Honourable Minister to see to it that Nigeria has international maritime representation in critical International institutions like International Maritime Organization (IMO), United Nation’s Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and World Customs Organization (WCO).

Similarly, the Executive Secretary, maintained that Nigerian Shippers’ Council is working harder to improve port infrastructure and operations to unlock the full potential of the maritime sector.

In his response, the Honourable Minister, welcomed the partnership and encouraged closer cooperation.

“I think you need to do more in terms of collaborating with us and continue to remember that these goals cannot be achieved without working with us.

“We need to work more closely with each other. An agency might be under one particular ministry, but that does not mean we should not work together on issues of overseas trade support. I am very happy to work with you,” he said.

He also affirmed the Ministry’s readiness to support the NSC’s initiatives and hinted at a possible Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalize the collaboration.